Love the reference to the 1DXs. I never thought that unifying the two bodies was a good idea. If true, it will be interesting to hear all the Canon marketing people backtracking on their statements that the 1DX replaces both the 1D and 1Ds. Will look like all it was was another price hike as they could not sustain the $4999 price model of the 1D.

I expect now after reading the latest rumors the high MP body coming as another 1D body series with presumably a steep price tag. Definitely a year of rest and no upgrading for me since Canon will likely miss out on a real D800 or predecessor competitor model.

Canon hasn't been making new lens designs with new prices and truly excellent resolution and clarity, for nothing.

The only question is, as we are all asking, when will the next high MP body (above the 5DIII) come out and what will the pixel count be?

I think we will see a 30+ megapixel Canon body in 2013, but what form/nomenclature it takes I couldn't say, Canon has been reliably unpredictable the past year.

I'm not original in saying this, but it seems to me that Canon has prioritized the elements that constitute overall performance in their own way. They've been updating their available focal lengths and types, ensuring very high performance for the new ones (and prices to match), they've added radio transmission to their top-tier speedlight system, are adding Wi-Fi and GPS either discretely or in body, are now using touchscreens, finally burped out a digital EOS IX (sans mirror), etc. etc.

The major competitor(s) are probably fine just buying sensors from Sony, but surely Canon is working on what it can aside from that. Until they come out with something really new in the sensor department, they improve the line in a variety of other ways in the meantime.

But the market has changed a lot in the past three years Canon looks to be building a foundation for a house that needs to have a roof, and soon.